<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Snowflakes by sugaplumvisions, timberlydrake_wayne</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28073997">Snowflakes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugaplumvisions/pseuds/sugaplumvisions'>sugaplumvisions</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/timberlydrake_wayne/pseuds/timberlydrake_wayne'>timberlydrake_wayne</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward Flirting, Christmas, Flirting, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Pre-Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:55:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,745</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28073997</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugaplumvisions/pseuds/sugaplumvisions, https://archiveofourown.org/users/timberlydrake_wayne/pseuds/timberlydrake_wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Over break, Remus and Sirius steal a soft moment together.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sirius Black/Remus Lupin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Snowflakes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sirius shakes the melted snow out of his hair as he walks into the Gryffindor common room.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Moony,” he says before he lifts his head. “What’re you--” He looks up. “Okay, now </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> what are you doing?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus looks up from the low table he’s working at, legs curled under him on the carpet, scissors and paper in hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, you’re back already?” He furrows his brow. “I thought we were going to meet downstairs for dinner.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s miserable out there,” Sirius says. “Look how wet my hair is still!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus smiles faintly and puts down the things he’s holding. “I told you it was really coming down.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a worrywart, though. I live on the dangerous side.” Sirius flashes his most devastating smile. “Just not...the wet side. Eugh.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You live on the bad decisions side, more like,” Remus says, laughing softly to hide how that smile makes him feel. He shifts to stand, letting out a small hiss at the protest his joints stage after sitting in one position for so long.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You okay, Moons?” Sirius asks, cocking his head slightly to look at Remus in curious worry. Remus waves him off, using the table to heft himself to his feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just stiff, is all,” Remus says, looking around the common room to make sure no one’s close.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That time of the month, huh?” Sirius says. He crosses the room to lay a hand on Remus’s shoulder. “I’m here, okay? I got you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus ducks his head. “Thanks,” he says quietly, still in awe over his friends’ acceptance of his...condition. Sirius, especially. “Are you hungry? Did you want to head downstairs?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So I may have snuck out to Hogsmeade…” Sirius says. He pulls a bag of candy out of a pocket inside his thick winter robe. “I know it’s not a substitute for a decent meal, but I got us some chocolate. Good for the soul.” He smiles, but it’s not his usual wild grin. It’s something smaller, softer. Something just for Remus. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that--is that the Belgian chocolate? With the truffle in the center?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius’s smile widens. “You know I only get you the best. I got me some chocolate nonpareils too, because you know how I feel about sprinkles.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus laughs again, still quiet but no less cheerful for it. “You know you don’t have to buy me chocolate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe I wanted to, huh? There’s that smile.” Sirius pokes him on the cheek. “Now, you never answered my question. What </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> you doing? Those are scissors. You know you could just use magic, right? For...whatever you’re up to.” He shrugs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus, confused at first because he’d forgotten, goes, “Oh!” and scurries back to his table. He picks up one of the pieces of paper and carefully unfolds it, careful not to tear the parts that he cut thin. He reveals his delicate paper snowflake to a baffled Sirius, then instantly feels self-conscious about it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s-I’m making them to send home, since I can’t be there. Mother and I spend the time to make them together every year, and since we couldn’t last year, I thought maybe I could send her some to make her feel better about me being away again--” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s beautiful,” Sirius says softly. “How do you even do that without magic?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“--I’ll clean up when I’m finished--” he stops. “Um. What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re beautiful. I have no idea where I’d even start without transfiguring them.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can. Um. I can show you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Seriously?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus chuckles quietly at the unintended pun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean, yeah. I’d like that. I gotta get good at doing things muggle style, if only to piss off my parents.” Sirius smiles again, but there’s a touch of sadness behind it. It quickly disappears as he plops down next to the table. “Okay, show me!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus lowers himself down next to Sirius as he says, “I’m not sure when you’d have the chance to show off this particular skill, but I don’t mind showing you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He folds up one of the pieces of paper to start, triangles meeting corner to corner the way his mother taught him. “This one we’ll make kinda big, but it’s easier to learn if it’s not too small. And then you just...cut it.” He demonstrates by taking the scissors and starting to clip away small pieces of the paper.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, okay. I’m just gonna...fold it like?” Sirius is not good at even the simplest origami. He’s folded paper, sure. In half. Not the intricate fold Remus is doing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no, like this,” Remus says, folding a new piece slower to try to demonstrate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you…” Sirius can’t keep the order of the folds in his head. He folds it into some approximation of what Remus has done, snips off the tip, and asks, “Now what?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus laughs a little, noticing how off-kilter the paper looks but letting Sirius follow this through. “You trim off little pieces to make the pattern and structure you want,” he says, snipping part of the bottom and sides off of his own. He waits till Sirius seems to be finished, then unfolds his to show Sirius the delicate snowflake he’s made.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius starts to unfold his, but pieces fall off instead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what happened is the fold ended up on one of the wrong sides, so you trimmed off what was basically the spine that was supposed to keep it in one piece,” Remus explains patiently, handing Sirius a fresh sheet of paper.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius tries again, and this time he’s pretty sure he has it right. He begins carefully snipping parts off. “I think I got it,” he says, and unfolds the paper to reveal...not a snowflake. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sighs and puts his head in his hands. “I’m so stupid.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus pulls one of his hands away. “You’re not stupid,” he says gently. “Even you can’t do everything perfectly the first time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He picks up what Sirius has made and looks at it, considering. “See, it’s just paper. So you can always…” He trails off and takes his own scissors and trims some of the paper away, presenting a more geometric set of shapes but still something one could reasonably call a snowflake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That looks...okay!” Sirius says. “I still wanna do it your way, though.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, but don’t give it up for lost when you open it and it doesn’t look how you want,” Remus says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be patient! Patience is my middle name.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus snorts, but hands him the paper anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here I go,” Sirius says. He stops. “I don’t...actually remember what order you folded them in. Could you help me?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus takes Sirius’s hands and is halfway through the folding before he realizes what he’s done, his scarred fingers resting over Sirius’s pale ones. Flinching, he realizes he can’t pull away now without a good reason, so he hurries through the last couple folds and sits back on his heels.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius’s face flames. He curses his pale House of Black complexion and hopes Remus hasn’t noticed. He wonders if he could push his luck, if he could lean into Remus and see if he pulled away or let him stay there. His hands were so cold on Sirius’s. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He takes a chance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your hands are so cold, Rem. Give ‘em here.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus’s face heats, pink under his freckles. “What-why?” Remus asks. He reaches them out anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re cold. I’m gonna warm them up.” Sirius debates how he should do this, if he should pretend to warm them, or just hold them. He wants to hold them but he realizes he can’t be this transparent. He can’t risk losing his Moony forever. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stacks Remus’s hands one on top of the other, and puts them between his hands, quickly rubbing them to generate some heat from friction. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your circulation is shit,” Sirius says, quiet, trying to look anywhere but Remus’s eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus shrugs, looking down at their hands. He’s getting warm, and the fire in the common room has nothing to do with it. After a few moments he clears his throat, sure his hands will be shaking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm?” Sirius asks. His hands still hold Remus’s, but he doesn’t notice Remus’s shaking hands. His hands are shaking as well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to…” he gestures at their crafts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Sirius says, slowly. “Let’s see how it turns out.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus pulls his hands free and reaches out to pick up Sirius’s paper, folded into its little triangle, and hands it to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius takes the paper and starts to snip at it. It doesn’t look like much, but he trusts Remus that it will fold out into something beautiful. He finishes by snipping off the tip of the triangle with a flourish. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is it ready?” Sirius asks. His eyes are hopeful. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus smiles at him and takes the paper, unfolding it slowly. Sirius holds his breath. Something about the moment feels important. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It folds out into a perfect snowflake. Grinning brightly, Remus claps. “I knew you could do it!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius exhales. He wants to take a picture of this moment, of Remus smiling and holding the perfect snowflake they made together. But instead he smiles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You definitely helped.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All I did was show you how,” Remus says earnestly. “I’ll make sure to tell Mother that you helped with her gift.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius’s hands still tingle where Remus had touched them. “I made one snowflake,” he says. “It’s not much.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, were you planning on quitting now?” Remus asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius barks a laugh. “My mother is...terrible, but she sure didn’t raise a quitter.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus reaches out to squeeze Sirius’ arm and starts folding some more sheets of paper. “I’ll fold, you cut?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, we’ll have to eat eventually,” Sirius says, but his heart clearly isn’t in it. He picks up the scissors as he speaks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t want to go to dinner. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wants to stay here, by the fire, with Remus. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus, for his part, shrugs. He’s never that hungry close to a full, anyway. But it’s easy to forget the impending full moon. He’s also unwilling to break this moment, soft and warm with Sirius. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So they sit, folding and snipping away, with stolen hand brushes as they pass paper and chocolates back and forth, smiling softly as they talk, both content to be in the other’s presence until growling stomachs eventually pull them away from their work and down to the kitchens for some real food.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>